


Of quidditch, bets and lily

by unknowableroom_archivist



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Humor, Romance
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2006-12-09
Updated: 2006-12-18
Packaged: 2019-01-19 16:18:43
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 3
Words: 4,382
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12413628
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/unknowableroom_archivist/pseuds/unknowableroom_archivist
Summary: Lily Evans abhors quidditch. So what in the world possesed her to accept a challenge from one james potter regarding the very thing? And how is Lily going to get herself out of the mess she has landed herself in





	1. how it all started

**Author's Note:**

> Note from ChristyCorr, the archivist: this story was originally archived at [Unknowable Room](http://fanlore.org/wiki/Unknowable_Room), a Harry Potter archive active from 2005-2016. To preserve the archive, I began manually importing its works to the AO3 as an Open Doors-approved project after May 2017. I e-mailed all creators about the move and posted announcements, but may not have reached everyone. If you are (or know) this creator, please contact me using the e-mail address on [Unknowable Room collection profile](http://www.archiveofourown.org/collections/unknowableroom).

Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter. Everything belongs to J.K. Rowling. So if you see anything that you recognize from the series, its not mine.

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Lily Evans threw her head back and laughed. The people surrounding her visibly relaxed, deceived into thinking that the famous Evan's temper had somehow been defused. Some even let out a nervous giggle or two, as if to laugh alongside the girl. However as lily's somewhat hysterical laughter continued, the tenseness returned full force. The head girl was not amused! She had gone plain mad! Demented even.Which was exactly what Lily herself was thinking. She was mad! Loose in the head. Dang gone. Whatever you called it, that was exactly what she was. Perhaps potter had always been right after all. Which reminded her of her current predicament. Stupid potter and his stupid bet. 

What in the world had possessed her to accept she groaned to herself. There was no way in hell it could have been her sensible self talking. Lily Evans did not do bets. And dang it! Lily Evans in no way in hell did quidditch. Why the very thought of the blasted sport disgusted her. How many times had the infuriating thing given her a problem? Quidditch maniacs accosting her for not liking the sport. Parties in the common room she had to clear up after. Why too many to count. And yet here she was stalking into the seventh year girls' dormitory wondering what she was going to do get herself out of the self-imposed quidditch fix she was in. 

It was only when she heard her best friend Melanie's (or Mel as she was commonly called) voice did she realise that she was still laughing like a deranged maniac. Ah well she thought, it could have been worse, she could have been hyperventilating which was what she would be doing if she hadn't been laughing already.

"Whoa! Lily, lily, calm down and tell me what's going on." The pretty brunette asked from her place on her bed. Mel had striking blue eyes, which went well with her brown locks. At the moment though those blue eyes were fixated on her hysterical best friend.

"Potter ... bet... quidditch," Lily choked out incoherently as she flung herself down next to Mel, trying to get her fits under control.

" Ookay lemme guess; potter challenged you to a quidditch match between both of y'all and you accepted like the fool that you are"

Lily gaped at the brunette. And here she thought she had a problem with communication. 

Her best friend smirked back. " I know you too well hun"

Finally getting herself in control she sat on the nearest bed before rasping, " what am I going to do? I can't play quidditch. You know how much I hate the sport. I've never even been near a broom for pity's sake"

"You've got to have. We had flying classes in first year remember?"

"eh, I got myself outta that one. Said I was allergic to brooms"

Now that she thought back on it, that was a damned pity. If she had actually tried the damned class, who knows, she might now have been a quidditch superstar! Or near. Oh well, one could dream anyway. Shaking her head, she tore herself away from the "what-ifs". Dreaming wouldn't help her current situation.

Just then the door burst open and the twins flew in. Jess, short for Jessica and Andy short for Andrea were identical twins and Lily's other two friends. With blond hair and piercing green eyes, the two never failed to capture attention. Which helped them in their quest to be the reigning queens of gossip in Hogwarts; although Sirius Black did give them some serious competition.

" Oh my god Mel, you'll never believe what we just heard. Potter challenged lily to a quidditch match and she agreed" 

Melanie raised an eyebrow, giving the pile of blankets on the bed next to her a pointed look. From somewhere inside the blankets she had cocooned herself in, Lily emerged and gave the twins a baleful look.

" Oh' they replied 

"yes, oh" Melanie glared at them

But instead of giving her the pity that lily felt she so richly deserved the twins turned to her with a " so its true then?"

Lily groaned and buried herself once more in the comforting folds of the blanket. She should have realised it would be all over the school by now. Now there was definitely no way she coud pull out of this. Her pride would never survive the blow if she did.

"So how'd it happen then?" that came from Andy. "the whole school's talking about it and none of them seem to know the real sit"

"weelll.." she dragged out, reluctant to recall the events that had taken place just an hour ago. Now that she thought about it the hogwarts gossip scene must be very happening if in one hour everyone was aware of her plight. Then again why was she even surprised? Hogwarts was like a gossip chain. Heck! Hogwarts was a gossip chain. But back to the point...

" Well see" she began again, "me and potter were in the heads common room discussing the Halloween ball when all of a sudden..." 

This time she was cut of by a gasp. "Halloween ball? What Halloween ball?" jess asked, her face lighting up. One look at her face and lily groaned yet again. She just loved getting herself into these things didn't she? The ball was supposed to be a secret and she had just told jess of all people about it. Burying her face in her blanket she said, " I have no idea what you're talking about"

"Oh come on, lily! You don't expect me to fall for that crap now, do you?"

"yeah, real good secret, lily" mel chimed in.

Oh drat! She had forgotten she had told Mel about the ball too. So much for keeping it a secret.

" Wait, don't you want to hear about the bet?" she asked hoping that that would somehow distract them.

" Fine but don't think we wont remember later" Andy told her laughing at her grimace.

Inwardly cursing at her stupidity, lily continued with her story. "so anyway me and potter were arguing and as usual he called me a stuck-up, all-knowing, prissy, annoying..."

"Lily, we all know what he always calls you and we all know what you always call him so can we please cut the insulting part and go straight to the bet part," Mel said with a sigh.

Wondering if they were really that predictable, lily scowled. "I do not always call him the same thing" she ground out 

" potter you incredibly irritating , arrogant idiot. You always think you're so much better then everyone don't you? Hah! Dream on. I'm surprised you can actually walk without falling over from that oversized head of yours which is by the way, perpetually stuck in that ugly arse of yours And.."

" enough" lily cried. ' I get it. I get it. Annnyyy way the gist is that I told potter that I could beat him at anything if I tried and he said I could never beat him at quidditch." So of course I said, " you wish potter" and then he challenged me to a match after the ball

There was a pause and then lily shuddered. " It gets worse"

Melanie raised her eyebrow. " How much worse can it get?"

"If I lose, I actually have to go on a date with the stuck-up ass."

At that all three started chortling.

"You're right, Lily, it did get worse. You're so dead" Andy gasped in between her chuckles.

Lily sighed. She happened to agree wholeheartedly.

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A/n : Hey people, this is my first story so any comments, constructive criticism or such will be appreciated. I really hope you enjoy the story. So please please review. Thanks 


	2. chapter 2

Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter. Everything belongs to J.K. Rowling. So if you see anything that you recognize from the series, its not mine.

"UP!" was the first word lily heard as she felt herself being summoned to consciousness. Somehow or other someone was trying to wake her and succeeding by the looks of it. Why anyone would even consider the ridiculous notion of being awake at some godforsaken hour of the morning confused her. Of course, it went without saying that anything would confuse her at this moment. Growling her impatience at the person, she flopped over on her bed and buried her head under the pillow, unaware that she did not in the least sound intimidating.

Ant then it came again, this time going on for a much longer time. " geeett uuuuuuppp Liiilly" the voice droned from some place far. "geeeetttt uuuuuuppp" .Lily twitched in annoyance. Did the person not realise that she would'nt be waking up anytime soon? Besides sleep was calling to her so much more persuasively. She could her its voice in her mind. " come baaaack lily, come baaack. You know you waaant me" it called enticingly. And it was right, she did want it, making it that much more temping than the idiot who kept trying to summon her to a wakefulness that she did not in the least desire.

Melanie giggled at the sight of her best friend. Twitching and turning in her bed, Lily kept letting out almost indiscernible 'oohs' and 'aahs' of pleasure as she got reacquainted with her slumber. Her face relaxed once more as she slipped from the grips of consciousness. It almost made her feel guilty disturbing that much loved sleep. Almost being the key word. Besides, it was necessary. Lily would have to at least get acquainted with a broom before her match with potter and who better to teach her then Melanie, gryffindor's star beater?

So she tried once again, this time using the magic words. "Lily, potters here and he wants....."

As if she'd been pricked by an extremely sharp needle, lily immediately rolled to her feet with a sharp "where?", an unpleasant expression on her face. Then realising that her friend had tricked her with an age-old method she scowled heavily. "What the hell, mel, why'd you wake me up at this bloody hour of.." here she glanced at the clock on her bedside and nearly fell back on her bed in shock. " six? SIX? You effin woke me up at six on a Monday morning? Are you mad you damned woman?" Settling back on her bed she rubbed her eyes wearily. There was no way she would be able to get back to sleep now. There had been too much excitement. So still muttering under her breath about stupid friends and their needs to steal her precious sleep, she turned to the girl now standing at the foot of her bed with a very amused expression.

"what," she barked out grumpily," was so important that you needed to wake me up? And it had better be someone near death or something as extreme"

Melanie grinned. It was at times like these that she loved Lily's temper. It was so darned amusing to see the calm and always composed head girl get her feathers ruffled. "You, my dear, need to learn how to use a broom." Seeing the colour drain from Lily's face she held in a chuckle and continued nonchalantly, " and that is where I come in. Who better then your best friend and quidditch expert to teach you how to finally conquer your unfounded fear of flying? I've known how to fly since I was six and it is my experience and superb skills that have gained me a place on the......" she carried on in that vein for some time before realising that her friend was just eyeing her with a look of amazement on her pretty features.

" not very modest, are you?'' lily asked wryly

" it's the truth hun, and nothing but" 

"I rest my case. And who said I'm scared of flying? Such a stupid notion" this was said indignantly.

Melanie gaped at her. " not afraid of flying? Puhh-leease, don't make me laugh. You were so scared you wouldn't even try it in first year. Allergic to brooms, my arse!"

"well, technically" lily began only to be cut off again.

"If you're not scared of flying, then prove it" Melanie said, a superior look on her face.

Lily gulped. She could not bear to back down from a challenge, an irritating trait that had gotten her in the mess in the first place. But then how could she when doing so would admit that she was inferior as well as catch her in her lie.

Making up her mind, she spat out, " fine, but I don't have a broom" And then it clicked. She didn't have a broom. How ingenious. She couldn't fly if she didn't have a broom. How stupid of her not to think of that in the first place.

But as quickly as her hopes had risen, they were ripped apart again.

"Don't worry your pretty little head about trivial details honey. The school has ample brooms for beginners like you to learn" and with that Melanie left the room, not waiting to see if lily followed. She didn't have to. She knew that the fighter in lily would never allow her to back down. And that was exactly what made her best friend so easy to provoke and oh so predicable. If you knew lily well enough you knew exactly which buttons to push to get her to do something. And Melanie knew lily very well indeed. 

Though, she mused, one another person who always knew which of lily's buttons to push was James Potter. No matter what kind of mood the girl was in, potter could always and would always get a reaction out of her. No matter how composed the girl tried to be, she always lost her temper. It was almost as if he did on purpose. Now that she reflected on it, he probably did. But with the kind of reaction that she herself had evoked from lily today, she didn't blame him. It was amusing to see the cool and composed headgirl in a snit.

Lily trailed behind Melanie, dragging her feet unenthusiastically. It was like they had a mind of their own. They kept trying to return her to the dorm she had just left. She willed them to continue after Mel albeit reluctantly. The word 'doomed' kept running through her mind. She had realised yesterday that she would have to do something about her flying skills or lack thereof. But what she had not counted on was acting on that realisation so quickly. In lily's order of thinking, it would be preferable if she could shove the match into some dark recess of her mind where it would be quickly forgotten until the day itself. She should be glad, she supposed. Having this area of the bet being taken over for her. It was not as if she could remedy the problem of her flying skills by herself. So having Mel taking care of it was a relief.

And besides, mel was right. She was a good flyer, though a self-proclaimed one. Better then a mere good., in fact. So it would do her some good to take lessons from the pro. 

Oh what good was it doing she groaned to herself. No matter how hard she tried t convince herself otherwise, she still dreaded the lesson. "how the hell am I oing to beat potter?" she asked herself, " if I cant even get on a broom."

Five minutes later they reached the pitch. Lily glared up at the sky, which was still relatively dark. She was giving up some dear sleep just to fly on some stupid wooden stick. If anyone had told her a week ago that such a thing would happen, she would have laughed preposterously then asked the person to go for a mental check in the hospital wing. And yet here she was.

Turning around she saw the silhouette of her best from coming towards her, holding two school brooms in her hand. "Let the fun begin," she told herself drolly. 

A/n : Hello again people. As you can see, I have finally updated. I'm so sorry. I realise that my chapters are very short . I used to hate it when people wrote such short chapters but now I'm doing it myself and I cant seem to help it. But anyway, on to another note, wooo hooo, I have a review. Not that great, I know but still.So thank you TMAL. And evryone else please please review.


	3. chap 3

Disclaimer: I don’t own Harry Potter. Everything belongs to J.K. Rowling. So if you see anything that you recognize from the series, its not mine.

"Draw your wand back students before thrusting it to the front" came the squeaky voice of Professor flitwick as he reviewed the charms his students had learnt in their past six years of schooling. " only then will the spell work". From his seat at the very back of the class, James Potter crooked a smile. Beside him, he could feel his best mate Sirius Black fighting to keep down his sniggers. Turning, he muttered quietly, " one would think we were learning other things in here, not charms". Then added as an afterthought " though I suppose charm does have something to do with it". At this last comment Sirius burst out laughing, his loud guffaws carrying through the classroom.. 

Professor flitwick frowned at the rude interruption, though god knows, he was used to it. The sense of déjà vu he felt stemmed from the fact that this happened in almost every lesson he had with james potter and Sirius black in it. Raising his voice in what was supposed to be a threatening manner he called out " Mr Black, may I ask what exactly is so funny that you feel the need to interrupt my class? I'm sure the class would not mind sharing the joke"

But Sirius could do nothing but shake helplessly with laughter, the image of flitwick conducting a class on sex still plaguing him. Finlly reigning himself back into control, he shook his head to convey that he had nothing to say.

"very well, Mr. Black. See to it that you do not dsturb my class again"

James shook his head. The man was no mcgonagall. It was so easy to get away with murder in his class. He was a walkover. Disregarding his friend remus's disapproving look, he went back to his thoughts. It was not like he had been trying to provoke Sirius into disrupting the class. The idea of flitwick teaching a class on sex was just too funny. Not that he needed the instruction. Neither did Sirius for that matter. Bing know as the resident heartthrobs of hogwarts took care of that matter. 

Girls were just attracted to them. Not that he could blame them. He himself had the famous potter hair which was jet blac and stuck up in all directions. Not to mention the hazel eyes that had girls swooning. And he was no being arrogant here. It was a fact and he acknowledged it. As for Sirius, it was the cool blue eyes and wavy black hair that did it. It was a well-known fact that they could get just about any girl they cared for. Or almost any girl.

The thought of the one girl who still refused him sored his pleasant musings. Lily Evans. How long he had been trying to get her to go out with him. And yet two years and still she rejected him. It was frustrating the way she would never give him a chance. He had done everything in his power to try to make him like her. He had even stopped bullying snivellus for her sake. And yet thedense girl seemed not to realise that he had feelings for her, thinking instead that he was just trying for the thrill of the chase.

She could be forgiven for thinking so. It had after all been his initial moive in asking her out. Here was a girl who seemed not to fall for his charm. And no matter how he tried she still had yet to do so. It had intrigued him, her refusal of him and that was what had started his obsession with her. It had become a challenge to get her to go out with him But then what started out as a challenge had turned into something more. So much more. He had started noticing her, seeing her for what she truly was. He had learned all her likes, her dislikes, knew all her habits.And that had started this whole dratted obsession with. It was no longer a challege to him. He truly wanted to go out with her and evey rejection had hurt him. It was the reason he had stopped asking her out as often.

Manuevering his head so that he could see the girl in question, he thought " blast it all, why wont she go out with me?" she had even gone out with Sirius who was reputed o be exactly like him. Off course, it had only been one date in fourth year but still. And she still liked Sirius well enough didn't she. They were friends, sort of. 

He stared at her again. She appeared to be lost in her thoughts, sucking on her quill absentmindedly. It was a habit of hers that he had always found adorable. And it made him want that much more. Luckily for him, he could look forward to a date with her I just a month. At the thought, his mood lifted. That bet had been one of the smartest things he had done in his life. He knew for a factthat lily could not fly for nuts, had never even tried it for god's sake. And yet that she had accepted astounded him. Actually it didn't, not that much. Lily had always been prideful. Which was wonderful. He just hoped he wouldn't have to humiliate her when it came to the time for the match. He could always tone down his skills a bit.

Oh well, whatever it was, he would be getting a date from one lily evans by the end of this month. Three in fact. And he would use hem to show her how much he had changed, how he really felt about her. And with that thought to cheer him up he tuned back in to the lesson feeling much better and just in time to hea flitwic exclaim " swish and jab students, swish and jab"

Lily herself was doing some thnking of her own. But unlike james, it was more a sort of remembering. Of that morning to be precise. When she had thought doomed' she she had thought that her premonition would turn out to be that accurate. But doomed was exactly what she was. Her piercing green eyes unfocused as she remembered the events of the morning.

Flashback:

Melanie tossed lily a broom, an old comet two-sixty that had been popular about ten years ago. Strangely, the idea hat the broom was very old comforted her for she knew that it would mean it could'nt go very fast. Staring at it, he asked hesitantly, So, what do I do?"

Melanie had gone into her professor mood. Laying the broom gntly on the groung, she motioned for lily to do the same. " the broom is like a living hing lily. It can sense what you are feeling and like animals, if it senses fear in you, it will know that it can overpower you. So if you want to master the broom, you have to be confident in your abilities, confident in yourself . You have to let it know who is the boss and only then will it obey you and any order you give it. So now I want you to sya 'up' as commandingly as you can. Put all your confidence into that word." 

When ily get done nothing, she had continued " go on lily, there's nothing to be scared of"

Lily processed what her friend had just told her slowly, wondering if there was something wrong with the girl in front of her. Living thing she said? That stick was no more living ten she was a inosaur. Psshhh! What nonsense her friend sprouted. Sometimes she wondered if Melanie had been dropped on head as a baby. 

Still, not wanting to disappoin he, she called out "up!" it came out shaky instead of commanding as she had hoped it would. It appeared that she had yet to get rid of her fear. And then she watched as rather like a living thing, the stick or broom or whatever twitched then rolled over, exactly like a rebellious animal. Perhaps the girl wasn't that far gone after all. 

"not like that lily. Like this" "UP!" mel called in a ringing voice. Lily watched enviously as the broom seemed to almost jump into her hand as if eager to please. Not to be outdone, she too turned to the broom beside her and called her own "up". still no difference. She should have realised then that the rest of it was going to be as hard. But no. In foolish innocence she had continued.

Half an hour later she realised her mistake.there was no hope for her. Even Melanie looked close to despair having watched her fumble for thirty minutes just to get the broom to obey her. Lily had tried everything. She had tried cajoling, wheedling even begging the broom to just please jum into her hand. There had even been a minute during which she had tried guilting the bloody brrom, telling it that this was her first time and that it should feel ashamed for being so uncooperative. The incredulous look on mels face had convinced her that that was not the way to go about it. A/n: Hey people. I don’t know whether to make Lily good at quidditch or suck at it. So some feedback would really be appreciated. So please, please review. Thanks.


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